I know a woman who has had an extremely high blood sugar for 3-4 years (anywhere from 250 - 450) and did not take care of her diabetes. It led to her mental deterioration so much that now she can't do a simple math problem or can't remember or recall anything.
I was curious as to how her untreated diabetes had led to her mental deterioration.
2007-11-21 17:00:25 · 8 answers · asked by mysticalmochamuffin 2 in Health ➔ Diseases & Conditions ➔ Diabetes
Also, I wanted any suggestions at all as to how to treat her condition. She is alone all the time, so I wanted to know if anyone had any suggestions how to get her to interact with people, learn to do simple math and memory functions again, etc.
2007-11-21 17:06:28 · update #1
An indirect way that diabetes could injure the brain is by contributing to multi-infarct dementia. This is where the brain has been injured by repeated strokes and dementia results. Diabetes (usually in combination with other conditions like high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and smoking) would cause this by causing disease in the blood vessels that feed the brain.
I'm not aware of any direct effect of diabetes on the brain, however.
2007-11-21 18:24:37 · answer #1 · answered by Doxycycline 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
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2016-05-17 08:53:10 · answer #2 · answered by ? 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
High glucose numbers, anything over 126, causes damage to tiny blood vessels and nerves. This causes the problems of the lady you are talking about. Getting the glucose under tight control will help her a lot with brain function, but not cure it as the damage is done.
I bet she also has neuropathy in feet and fingers? Same thing! the high glucose numbers.
High Glucose also causes severe depression! I can sympathize with her for being depressed. She needs some professional help for this as well as getting her glucose levels into tight control.
I wish you a great deal of luck dealing with this lady.
2007-11-22 02:07:43 · answer #3 · answered by Nana Lamb 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Too much sugar is actually acidic to body tissues. Glucose burns when going in through an IV. Her blood sugar being that high for that long would certainly kill brain tissue.
2007-11-21 17:04:46 · answer #4 · answered by Medicgirl 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You should not ask this question on this blog. Most of us are not professionals. First I think the blood-sugar level has to be brought under control and than the teaching can begin. Ask your GP, he will give you all the right answer. It is very nice that you are concerned and that you like to help. Good luck with your attempt to help this poor lady..................
2007-11-21 20:01:59 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
think of how sugar would act in a liquid where it isnt dissolved- it would act as an abrasive which damages the blood vessels causing friction and micro-tears...these micro-tears are then 'healed' by the body and scar tissue forms- eventually there is so much scar tissue that there isnt much tissue to function off of
2007-11-21 17:04:07 · answer #6 · answered by JenH-RN 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Perhaps she had a stroke ? Does she have Alzheimer's ?
Has she seen a doctor ? It's not your job to come up with a treatment policy.You can follow through on a doctors recommendations .
2007-11-22 01:53:00 · answer #7 · answered by Cammie 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
She needs to see a doctor right away. Or go to an emergency room.
2007-11-21 17:10:10 · answer #8 · answered by taino32002 1 · 0⤊ 2⤋